Nashville Equalization Facility Project Receives Envision® Platinum Award
The final West Park project design includes significant public recreational space, including ballfields, picnic areas, and a playground.
(WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 29, 2016) - The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) announced today that the Nashville Metropolitan Government West Park Equalization Facility, a joint project owned by the Metro Nashville Water Services Department (MWS) and the Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation Department (MPR), recently earned the Envision Platinum award for sustainable infrastructure, the highest rating of the Envision system. This is the first joint wastewater and park project in the U.S. to receive an ISI Envision rating award and the tenth project in North America to receive recognition.
The unique challenges of Nashville’s West Park Equalization Facility project led the team to apply for Envision verification. Nashville MWS, charged with eliminating unpermitted discharges from its wastewater collection system, implemented a strategy that included wastewater storage throughout the system during periods of wet weather. The storage project design for the West Park Facility originally called for a second tank on the existing pump station site. However, updates to the flood zones made in response to Nashville’s historic 2010 flooding, resulted in an unsuitable original location. The alternative remote location would have required multiple tanks and additional piping.
The project team then partnered with MPR to utilize park property within the nearby West Park, with existing recreational facilities that were in need of improvements and were not meeting the needs of a rapidly growing surrounding community. By relocating this project in the park, the cost savings funded much needed park upgrades and new recreational facilities. The project’s inter-agency collaboration provides two different community benefits: valuable park improvements and cleaner rivers and streams.
“The Nashville Metropolitan Government West Park Equalization Facility project achieved the Envision Platinum award due to its predominance of sustainable infrastructure characteristics, including the improvement of quality of life and enhancement of public space, improved infrastructure integration with the new wastewater infrastructure with improved recreation infrastructure, and resource allocation that protects fresh water availability,” said ISI President and CEO, William Bertera. “This is the first ISI Envision-verified joint wastewater and park project in the U.S. and only the 10th Envision- verified infrastructure project overall in North America. The Hazen and Sawyer design team and Nashville Metro Water Services in collaboration with Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation showed great leadership in sustainability and made significant public contributions to the Nashville area with their commitments to the principles of sustainability.”
“Hazen and Sawyer is honored to be the design consultant on the first joint wastewater and park infrastructure Envision-verified project in North America,” said Hazen and Sawyer’s lead of Sustainable Design Services, Evan Bowles. “The West Park Facility project will not only provide much needed wet weather storage, but also demonstrates how sustainable planning and design attributes can be incorporated in a pragmatic manner for the benefit of the community, the utility and the environment.”
“Metro Nashville Water Services and the Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation departments are excited to achieve the ISI Envision Platinum award for the Metro Government West Park Equalization Facility project with our partner Hazen and Sawyer,” said Clean Water Nashville Program Director Ron Taylor. “We are immensely proud of this collaborative effort to achieve sustainability on this West Park Equalization Facility project. Its many sustainable design elements led us to pursue Envision recognition.”
About ISI Envision The ISI Envision system measures sustainability in infrastructure projects in five categories: Quality of Life (QL), Leadership (LD), Natural World (NW), Resource Allocation (RA) and Climate and Risk (CR). These contribute to overall credits for the positive social, economic and environmental impacts in a community in the planning, design and construction of infrastructure projects.
The Envision rating system categories with the highest scores for the West Park Equalization Facility project include:
Quality of Life (QL): The project provides new public space, which consists of the walking trail, a new and innovative playground, a new public use pavilion and a “pocket” urban forest. The project will improve park and greenway linkages, provide green space and increased recreational activities.
Natural World (NW): This project enhances surface water functions by improving the hydrologic connection through increased infiltration and riparian buffer preservation. The project also increases biodiversity with the addition of six new native species of trees (219 in total) to the riparian area of Richland Creek.
Climate and Risk (CR): By reducing materials used and the addition of trees, the design represents more than a 40 % reduction in carbon emissions over the life of the project. The project team assessed the climate threat and prepared for long-term adaptability to ensure that project elements are generally resilient, including the equalization tank, walking trail, ball fields, playground, pavilion and wet-weather pump station.
